Attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union and Rhode Island Legal Services are suing the Providence Schools in connection with efforts to improve education for students learning English.

Last summer, the U.S. Department of Justice announced their investigation into the schools found the district was not adequately teaching students in need of English language education.

The district and Department of Justice reached a settlement requiring changes, but now attorneys are suing the schools for release of documents outlining the initial failings the schools are expected to fix.

“Without any sort of transparency or accountability it’s really extremely difficult, if not impossible, how well the school district is improving the services the justice department found deficient,” said Steve Brown head of the ACLU of Rhode Island.

The attorneys requested documents from the city, including the notice that the DOJ had found violations, under the Access to Public Records Act. That request was denied by the city, prompting the current lawsuit.

The district did not provide comment on the suit as of Thursday afternoon.

This is the latest issue facing the troubled system in advance of the new school year, which starts next week. A state takeover of the schools is expected to begin in late October or early November.